There was a commotion outside, but the emperor turned a deaf ear to it.
After making everyone in the palace tremble, the emperor looked at Jing Heguang kindly: “Bangyan(2nd place) is truly clever, you guessed that it was a pig’s squeal from hearing it. I will reward you with a small request. Where do you want to go to be an official?”
While these people annoyed the emperor, at the same time they also made the emperor feel aggrieved for Jing Heguang.
They are all his people, does it really matter whether they are noble or not?
Nowadays, even before becoming an official, people look down on the common people. If he doesn’t do anything, they will suffer in the future.
When Jing Heguang heard the question, he had an idea.
He raised his head with a hearty smile: “Replying to your majesty, I want to go home and just become a minor official!”
“Why?”
“First, this minister has a humble rank. Second, it’s difficult to leave my homeland, and third, there’s a husband waiting for me to return home.”
The emperor thought about the words he heard at yesterday’s autumn banquet, and thought to himself: He is really a man who values love and justice.
The emperor smiled and nodded: “I give you my golden words.”
After Jing Heguang thanked the emperor, he couldn’t help but grab Little Yellow Peach and talk to it in his mind.
“Little Yellow Peach, do I really not have the protective halo from a big boss?!”
[No! No! No!]
[Please do not doubt the system’s professionalism.]
Little Yellow Peach couldn’t bear it anymore: [Yesterday, Li Yujiao had an argument with someone. She was arguing that you were not a vulgar person, and even presented several pieces of evidence. The emperor was outside the courtyard at the time and heard it.]
It turned out to be a good deed done by his big niece without leaving her name!
He bought a gift pack of snacks for three-year-olds on the way here: candied haws, sugar figures, and custard buns — it’s really not in vain!
But…behind the pillar? Outside in the courtyard?
Why is this emperor…always eavesdropping?
Jing Heguang felt that he knew too much.
***
Two quarters of an hour later than the scheduled time, the new scholar came out of the palace gate on horseback.
The common people rejoiced and raised the flowers, sachets, and handkerchief in their hands to throw them out. However, when they saw that all the new scholars this year seemed to have bad looks…
The zhuangyuan’s face was pale and so was the tanhua. The faces of the jinshi in the back were even worse, as if they were frightened by something.
Only the handsome bangyan has a rosy complexion and is full of energy.
And this year’s tanhua is not as good-looking as the bangyan at all!
Therefore, a lot of flowers, sachets, and handkerchiefs were thrown towards Jing Heguang.
“Bangyan! Look, my boudoir daughter is 28 this year…”
“Take my flower!”
“My handkerchief…Oh! Don’t avoid it!”
Jing Heguang accepted a flower from an old lady but nothing else. He is a married man, so he needs to be more serious.
Tanhua riding behind Jing Heguang: “…”
Isn’t tanhua supposed to be the most popular person?!
The white horse he rides is obviously different from the zhuangyuan and bangyan’s dark horses. Is the white horse inconspicuous?
No, it’s because he is not as elegant and handsome as the bangyan, with a gentle and elegant temperament like a jade man.
Tanhua thought of Jing Heguang’s face and sighed silently in his heart.
Tanhua thought for a while and comforted himself: Fortunately, bangyan was married, otherwise how could he compete with him for the position of Tanhua. The bangyan is so good-looking!
***
After the tour, Jing Heguang returned to the administration hall on the big black horse given by the palac.
As soon as he got off his horse, the old curator and the others came to greet him.
The old curator even helped Jing Heguang pick off all the big red flowers on his body, as if the big red flower on Jing Heguang’s body was so heavy.
But seeing the happy look of the old curator holding the big red flower, Jing Heguang understood: “Director, I’ll give this flower to you. Thank you for taking good care of me these days.”
The horses were given by the emperor but the red flowers are arranged uniformly and can be given away. There’s once a new scholar who takes his red flower and gives it directly to his sweetheart.
However, Jing Heguang should be the first person to give it to an old man.
The old curator couldn’t believe it: “You’re giving it to me for real? This is from the palace! Don’t you want to take it home?”
Jing Heguang said: “There’s no one I can give it to. My husband will definitely agree to give it to you too.”
After saying a few words, the old curator happily held the flower and gave up his seat, letting Jing Heguang exchange a few polite words with the others.
Jing Heguang is really popular now. He is a Jinshi and has a bright future.
The old curator held the big red flower and went outside.
“Hey, curator Wang, you are very energetic today. Does this flower look familiar to you?”
“Hey, Lao Li, look at me wearing this flower. Do I have the spirit of a new jinshi?”
…
After a circle, the old curator returned to the administration hall with the flower in his arms. When he returned to the hall, he took out two jars of old wine from his wine cellar.
At this time, Jing Heguang also finished his polite greetings. He turned around and went to the old curator’s room to ask for something.
The others who came out of the palace were fine but anyone who offended Jing Heguang was in bad luck, and Jing Heguang knew that this matter was not over yet.
—The person who came out and took the initiative to offend him was dealt with, but the person who stabbed him behind the scenes was still fine.
Even if others know Zhang Xingyu’s occupation, they may not know that he was raised by his father-in-law’s family, and if they know, they may not dare to tell.
Unless the person who leaked the information knew him well and was not afraid of him.
Jing Heguang recited his name in his mind, then knocked on the old curator’s door: “Curator, are you there? I want to ask you something.”
“Yes!” The old curator responded. After a moment, he rushed over and opened the door for Jing Heguang.
The old curator smelled of alcohol, his face was red, and his eyes were slightly drooped: “hic—, Heguang, what do you need from me? Just ask.”
When he hiccup, he unconsciously opens his eyes.
Only then did Jing Heguang realize that the old curator’s face was not only red, but his eyes were also red, but the redness from drinking was not obvious.
Jing Heguang hesitated for a moment and said, “How about I come back later?”
The old curator glared at him, grabbed his front with one hand and pulled him into the room: “You have a sharp eye. Come in, I’ll buy you a drink.”
The old curator pulled the person into the room, turned around and closed the door.
Then he walked towards the table and said: “Don’t laugh at this old man. I took the exam ten times, exactly ten times. For 30 years, I have never passed it once!”
“I have always thought about when I can wear those big bright red flowers from the palace like those jinshi, it’s a sight to behold.”
“Although what you gave me today is not this old man’s, I’m still happy, so I dug out the wine to drink.” After drinking too much, it’s easy to think about the past.
The old curator swallowed the last words, poured a glass of wine for Jing Heguang, and asked him: “By the way, why are you looking for me?”
After sighing with emotion, the old curator is 70% sobered. He doesn’t look that far from his normal state when he is sober.
Jing Heguang thought that his return was not far away, so he said directly: “Heguang was targeted in the palace. From the fact that my husband is a butcher to the fact that I was raised by my father-in-law, they have been used to attack me.”
“There’s nothing shameful about these things, it’s just that not everyone knows about these family matters.”
Jing Heguang said, his eyes sharp: “Heguang is really not familiar with the capital, so I want to ask you to help me find out who is talking about me behind my back?”
The old curator took a sip of wine and then looked at Jing Heguang: “I think you know.”
Jing Heguang said: “I want a definite answer.” To avoid being wrong.
“It’s indeed Wang Juren. He lives in the Fugui Inn in Xicheng.”
Jing Heguang had long been mentally prepared, but now that he heard it for real, he couldn’t help tighten his lips with a bitter taste in his mouth.
The scenes after meeting Wang Sixing flashed through his mind, from the little joke Wang Sixing made when congratulating him on his marriage;
The way he deliberately teased Wang Sixing to arouse his fighting spirit when they were on the way to the provincial examination;
When the two people crowded together in a crowd, then he was looked down because of his age to Wang Sixing trying to defend him;
Then, when he was about to return home after the Luming Banquet, Wang Sixing casually said that he valued love over friends…
In the end, Jing Heguang just smiled and said: “Thank you. Curator, I understand.”
Jing Heguang picked up the wine in front of him and took a gulp of it.
The old curator thought he had to comfort him a few words, but in a blink of an eye Jing Heguang asked him again with a calm expression.
“Curator, what should I bring when I go to visit someone else’s home?”
“When I came, I came to the capital with my elder brother’s husband and his daughter. It’s just that my brother-in-law’s natal family has a high position. I think It would be better to visit their home after passing the exam.”
The old curator asked: “How high a high position?”
“The Qin family.”
“Which Qin family?”
“My brother-in-law is a little ger from the Taishi’s manor who married out.”
The old director coughed a mouthful of wine from his throat and glared: “Why didn’t you go to visit earlier?! If you go earlier, I don’t have to worry so much!”
“Ahem Ahem—” The old curator touched his chest, glared at Jing Heguang with a look of indifference, then asked Jing Heguang about his remaining wealth, and then carefully recommended some suitable things.
Jing Heguang remembered it, and then snatched the old man’s wine jar: “Drink less, drinking too much will harm your health.”
The old curator snorted: “You can use my wine to drown your sorrows without harming yourself!”
Jing Heguang smiled and said: “I don’t drink, so why dwell on the past? I should move forward and live up to those people who wish me good things!”
After that, Jing Heguang left with the old man’s wine in his arms.
The old curator was left behind. He looked at the door of the room, sighed, and said with a wry smile: “I wasn’t as clear as a young boy. I have really lived half my life in vain…”
***
The next day, Jing Heguang bought something in the morning then went to visit the Qin Manor in the afternoon.
The concierge took the things and courteously asked him to sit down, and then handed the news that Jing Heguang came to visit into the manor.
When the news reached the ears of the eldest lady in charge of the inner courtyard, the eldest lady was sitting in the courtyard of the mansion chatting and joking with the whole family.
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Qin Mansion listened to the news and looked at Qin Lu with a smile: “Lu’ger, what a coincidence, your husband’s wise brother came to visit!”
Li Yujiao was leaning next to the old lady acting coquettishly. After hearing this, she glanced at her cousin and asked in surprise: “Did Jing…Uncle Heguang really here?”
The rules of the Qin Manor were strict, and yesterday’s parade was a mess, so these little girls and gers couldn’t go out.
Qin Lu looked at his daughter who had changed her mind and smiled: “What a coincidence, the men at home are not here. Sister-in-law and I will welcome you together.”
Qin Lu and the eldest daughter-in-law got up, and the little girls and gers in the room soon followed like a tail.
Li Yujiao took two steps, glanced at her cousin, and thought with great confidence: Don’t be stunned later!
